Missed on my first double!

mserman

New member
I called in two dogs this evening and missed both! I got caught unprepared in an area I'm not familiar with. I was expecting only to find low semi-thick brush when I set off walking down the road with my shotgun leaving my rifle in the car.

I found a nice grassy opening in the woods about 100yds across, set up off one of the corners and placed the call about 30yds in front of me. Once I settled in I let the cottontail sounds fly and within five minutes two coyotes were directly across the field.

I had used a range finder to box in my kill zone so I waited patiently as they came in along edge of the tree line. One held up as the other came in directly to the call. Once it was within about ten yards of the call something spooked it and began to run. Safety off, bang, bang, bang. I swore I hit it with the last shot but it was getting pretty dark and I couldn't find it in the woods.

I searched for a good 15 minutes while the other one was barking at me from somewhere close by. I've had them bark at me plenty of times before but never after firing off numerous shots. Besides bringing a rifle, what would you guys do? Would you set back up and start a new call sequence? Bug out and come back another time? I thought about running the call on repeat and at high volume and trying to ambush him from behind but that seemed a little too Rambo and not realistic...
 
For coyote calling with a shotgun about 20 yards away is the farthest away I will set my e-caller away from me. Most of the time I set my e-caller 10 to 15 yards away from me. If a coyote stops 10 to 15 yards away from your e-caller, you are much better off having your e-caller 10 to 15 yards away from you.

Many times I have coyotes run right up to my e-caller and then turn to run back out the way they came in. I would much rather have them turn to run away at 10 to 15 yards away instead of doing it at 30 yards away.

When calling with just a shotgun try to hide your e-caller in some grass, small bushes or in some rocks. If your e-caller is not in plain sight the coyotes will get much closer to it if your e-caller is not easy for them to see.
 
Use a decoy if your shotgunning. In my experience 99% of them will run right up to it before they bug out. Like derbyacresbob said, I put my ecall within range of my shotgun. I don't think 30 yards is too far way myself. Just my $.02
 

Originally Posted By: msermanI called in two dogs this evening and missed both!
That’s almost as bad as me letting the rifle off prematurely on an absolutely beautiful and well-furred black coyote due to light trigger and heavy gloves. What a trophy that would have been. The only redeeming part is that it was a complete miss. Been kicking myself in the behind ever since.
 
If you want closer shots on coyotes while hunting with a shotgun you will get closer shots if your e-caller is closer to you.

Most of the coyotes I shoot with a shotgun run up to my e-caller or very close to it. Very seldom do they run buy it and get closer to me than my e-caller is.

So If I didn't want any shotgun shots closer than 30 yards away I would set my e-caller at 30 yards away.

If a coyote stops or veers off 20 yards away from my e-caller I would want my e-caller 10 yards away from me giving me a 30 yard shot. If my e-caller was 30 yards out away from me and a coyote stops or veers off 20 yards away from my e-caller that would give me a 50 yard shot.

IMG_0859 - Copy by [/url], on Flickr

In the above picture that I took last season, I had my Foxpro 15 yards away from me and the coyote got within about 5 yards of my Foxpro.

You will kill more coyotes with a shotgun if you start shooting at them when they are 10 to 25 yards away than you will kill when you start shooting at them when they are 30 to 45 yards away.

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This above picture of two coyotes that were running towards my Foxpro I also took last season. They were about 20 yards from me angling in from the side to my Foxpro that was about 15 yards away from me. When I dropped my camera and raised my shotgun one of them stopped and the other one turned and ran straight back the way they came in.

I screwed up and shot the standing coyote first. The coyote that was running off to my right got away because I couldn't turn to my right quick enough. If I had shot the running coyote first I am pretty sure I would have had the time and space to kill the second coyote running off that was standing in front of me.

 
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Bob, you're a mind reader. I was planning on asking you how far out you set you call because I may have to use a shotgun on next hunt. I figured it should be closer than I normally set up for rifle. Thanks!

Regards,
hm
 
Thanks for the advice gents. I know this dog was in range, I think at the end of the day I just out right missed. I'm heading back in a week or two so I will report back.
 
I when you go call that spot setup in a different spot and use some different sounds. They might be a little harder to call in.
 
I finally made it back out there tonight. I set up in a different location about 300 yds to the east. This time I left the shotgun in the car and brought my 22-250.

Right before dark the howling began so I started things off with cottontail distress calls. On the second pass scanning with a red light two eyes lit up directly in front of me about 100yds away. The coyote was in the grass and peaking over a small berm from logging skidder tracks.

I took the shot...AND MISSED!!!
 
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